Will Graham (TV)
Will Graham is the main protagonist of NBC's Hannibal. He is a criminal profiler and hunter of serial killers, who has a unique ability he uses to identify and understand the killers he tracks. Will lives in a farm house in Wolf Trap, Virginia, where he shares his residence with his family of dogs (all of whom he adopted as strays). Originally retired and teaching forensic classes for the FBI, he was brought back into the field by Jack Crawford and worked alongside Hannibal Lecter to track down serial killers. Will has a unique psychological ability that he refers to as "interpreting the evidence". In reality, he is able to assume the state of mind a murderer has after visiting the crime scene and recreates the thinking (as well as the actions) with himself as the killer in order to understand more about them. Unfortunately, the ability to do this shows profound risk to his psyche and can lead to psychological issues (though the extent of these "problems" came from Hannibal's manipulation). Will had spent some time in the Baltimore State Hospital For The Criminally Insane after being framed as the "Copycat Killer", a serial killer responsible for the deaths of four individuals resembling the work of other killers. In reality, these acts were committed by the Chesapeake Ripper who later laid claim to these murders which set Will free. With Frederick Chilton currently considered the Chesapeake Ripper by the FBI, Will remains unswayed from his certainty that the killer is in fact Hannibal Lecter. He's currently playing his own game with Lecter, resuming his "therapy" and seemingly befriending the man he's been at odds with since his own manipulation. Despite suffering from Anti-NMDA encephalitis and being subjected to Hannibal Lecter's best efforts to push Will to the brink of breaking with sanity, Will eventually realized that Hannibal Lecter is the Chesapeake Ripper. Will then set a trap by describing the sense of power and pleasure he felt after killing Garrett Jacob Hobbs and Randall Tier. Will was able to trick Lecter into believing that Will was finally embracing his inner psychopath. Will continued the ruse by faking the death of Freddie Lounds in an effort further gain Lecter's friendship and trust. Will even fed Lecter parts of Randall Tier, claiming that it was actually parts of Freddie Lounds. Lecter only realized the ruse because his heightened sense of smell helped him realize that Freddie Lounds was not, in fact, dead. Hannibal Lecter's response to Will's betrayal left Will himself, Abigail Hobbs, Alana Bloom and Jack Crawford barely clinging to life in the Season 2 finale, "Mizumono." Personality Will is a former homicide detective who lost his job due to him not being able to use his gun when necessary. Therefore, he teaches at the FBI college. He has no recollection of his mother, who left his life when he was very young. Season 1 In the first episode, Will shot and killed Garrett Jacob Hobbs, aka the "Minnesota Shrike". Hobbs had his daughter in his arms and started to slit her throat when Will shot him. Abigail fell to the floor, blood rushing from her neck. Will did his best to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. This was after Hobbs had already killed his own wife, discarding her body on the front porch. After a period of time the EMTs arrived and Abigail received the medical attention she required. She survived the ordeal, witnessing Will kill her father. Hobbs' death still haunts Will in his hallucinations and dreams. Graham reportedly is no longer a field agent where he worked homicide, due to the complexities of his condition, and has settled into life as an educator - but he is soon called into the field once more. In the TV series, Will says that his "horse is hitched to a post that is closer to Asperger's Syndrome and Autistics…" This is evident when he and Jack Crawford meet and he avoids looking him in the eye. Indefinitely, he seems to take in any stray dog that he finds. One night, as he's driving home, he finds a stray and manages to lure it to him with food. He takes him home and introduces the dog to the rest of his "family". He introduces the dog as Winston. To this day Winston is the only dog name he has shared. (S2E9 - Buster is the dog that gets out the door - maybe korgi beagle mix?) Will never knew his mother and his father worked on shipyards (possibly fixing boat motors, as Will has been seen doing this too. However, it could have been working on diesel engines. Will made the comment to Crawford that's what he would go do if he were to quit.) He moved around a lot during his childhood and was "always the stranger" at his new schools. His family was poor. Will has a love interest, Alana Bloom. However, Alana told him they could not be together because he was too unstable despite having feelings for him. Will confirmed her suspicions after telling her he felt unstable. This happened the day following the day the two kissed in Will's home. He begins teaching at the FBI Academy (Quantico, Virginia) due to the fact that he doesn't like to socialize with other people. He says that when he's teaching, he's "talking at them", not necessarily "socializing" with them. After he shot Hobbs, he walked into class to a standing ovation. He told everyone to sit down that their applause was misguided. This is the attitude of Will when it comes to people. He wants no special attention and just wants to be left alone. When speaking to people, he avoids eye contact. He has the ability to be able to empathize with psychopaths and other people of the sort. He sees crime scenes and plays them out in his mind with vividly gruesome detail. Will closes his eyes and a pendulum of light flashes in front of him, sending him into the mind of the killer. When he opens his eyes, he is alone at the scene of the crime. The scene literally changes retracting back to before the killing happened. Will then assumes the role of the killer. He moves to the victim and carries out the crime just as the killer would have. He can see the killer's "design" just as the killer designed it. This allows him to know every detail about the crime and access information that would have otherwise not been known. He has admitted to Crawford that it was becoming harder and harder for him to look. The crimes were getting into his head and leaving him confused and disorientated. During one such experience, he lost track of what was going on and thought he was actually murdering a victim. He threw the door open, drenched in terror, only to see the BAU team standing outside the door. They all looked as confused as Will when they saw the terror on his face. Will was relieved to know he was working but worried his ability was starting to take its toll on him. Will had advanced encephalitis, which is why he often suffered from hallucinations, the loss of time, and disorientation. He has since received treatment of an antibiotic and viral medication therapy to reduce the swelling on his brain. Dr. Lecter had previously diagnosed the condition, but kept the information from Will. He allowed Will to believe his hallucinations and breakdowns were due to a mental condition and not from an illness. He did this to observe Will and see how he would handle the stress of these symptoms. You could also say he allowed the illness to progress so that it would make framing Will easier. Will currently resides at the Baltimore State Hospital For The Criminally Insane. He is charged with the murder of Abigail Hobbs, as well as being the Copy Cat killer. Those victims included Cassie Boyle, Georgia Madchen, Dr. Donald Sutcliffe, and Marissa Schurr. After previously escaping custody by dislocating his finger and sliding the cuffs off his wrists, he attacked his guards and managed to escape. He made his way to Dr. Lecter's office where he asked him to take him to the Hobbs' residence in Minnesota. Once they made their way there, theories started to form in Will's head after an intense conversation with Dr. Lecter, Will told him, "The scales have fallen away from my eyes. I can see you now." This confirmed for him that Dr. Lecter was responsible for the crimes Will was charged with. Will had been seeing him for some time for psychiatric care, only to realize Dr. Lecter was manipulating him, using him as study material. While at the Hobbs' residence, he explained this to Dr. Lecter, comparing it to a wind-up toy while holding a gun on Lecter at the time. He was all set to shoot Dr. Lecter in the head before Crawford intervened, shooting Will in the arm and knocking him backwards. While Will was against the counter, where he landed, he saw Dr. Lecter clearly for the person he was, sealing the idea that he set Will up for the crimes he himself had committed. While Will has not yet shared this information with anyone else, he remains vigilant that Dr. Lecter is in fact the killer. The charges against Will are very damning, giving the length of detail Dr. Lecter had to go through to frame him, including somehow feeding Will Abigail Hobbs' ear. Season 2 After failing to shoot Hannibal Lecter, Will is sent to Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane for serial murder, under the care of Matthew Brown. After several corpses are found in a dam, Beverly Katz finds Will and let him profiling the images of several missing persons. Will attempts to find his lost memories and warn Hannibal that there will be reckoning. Attempted Murder of Hannibal Lecter While commited to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally insane, he befriends an orderly who happens to be an admirer of his. Will asks his admirer to kill Hannibal Lecter for him so he may finally have peace of mind. The admirer follows Lecter to an indoor swimming pool, subdues him, and attempts to hang Hannibal. Before he is successful though, Jack tracks down Hannibal and shoots the admirer. Failing to do so before the man kicks the bucket out from under Hannibal's feet, Jack rushes over to Hannibal lifting him up, saving him. Trial Of Will Graham Season 3 Interviews He needs a sanctuary from the intensity of his “gifts” and so surrounds himself in actual nature. He lives in the farmlands outside Quantico. ''(Patti Podesta, “Hannibal’s” production designer) Victims *Garret Jacob Hobbs - Shot multiple times in the chest, saving 'Abigail Hobbs' in the process. ([[Apéritif|Apéritif]]) *Randall Tier - Beaten to unconsciousness and neck snapped. (Shiizakana) *Unnamed man - By proxy, manipulated Chiyoh to stab him once in the neck. (Secondo) *Two unnamed bodyguards - By proxy, manipulated Francis Dolarhyde to kill them to get to Chilton. (The Number of the Beast is 666) *Six unnamed cops - By proxy, conspired with Francis Dolarhyde to kill them to get to Hannibal. (The Wrath of the Lamb) *Francis Dolarhyde - Repeatedly stabbed along with Hannibal. (The Wrath of the Lamb) Attempted *Abel Gideon - Shot in the guts, later revealed Gideon survived the wound. *Hannibal Lecter - By proxy, sent Matthew Brown to kill Hannibal, but the latter was stopped and shot by Jack Crawford and later dragged Hannibal off the side of a cliff personally. (The Wrath of the Lamb) *Clark Ingram - Almost shot him in the head, but was stopped by Hannibal. (Su-zakana) *Frederick Chilton - By proxy, manipulated Francis Dolarhyde to rip his lips out and set him on fire. (The Number of the Beast is 666) Fantasy Kills Though he visualizes himself as the killer in several scenarios, to emulate the killer's methods and find clues on several cases, the following are the only victims he has fantasize killing all by himself. *Hannibal Lecter - Decapitated/suffocated with a rope while tied to a tree. (Shiizakana) *Clark Ingram - Shot in the head, after Hannibal asked Will to visualize a scenario without regrets. (Shiizakana) Alleged victims *During the time period in which Will was prosecuted and treated as the Copycat Killer, he was accused of all the murders attributed to the copycat (in fact - Hannibal Lecter). *Freddie Lounds - Was thought to be killed and cannibalized by him, but it turned out she's alive. (Naka-Choko) Quotes *"Everyone has thought about killing someone, one way or another." ''(during his psychoanalyzing class) *"You won't like me when I'm psychoanalyzed." (to Lecter) *"He's eating them." (about what a killer does to the livers) *"My thoughts are often not tasty." (to Lecter) *"He won't know he's dying. I don't need him to. This is my design." (while empathizing with a serial killer) *"I liked killing Hobbs." (to Lecter) *"I'm not even sure If I'm awake now." *"We don’t know what nightmares lie coiled beneath Will’s pillow." (Lecter) *"Last time he sent me into a dark place, I brought something back." *"Abigail Hobbs is a success for you." (Alana) *"I don't know how much longer I can be all that useful to you, Jack." *"Did you just smell me?" (to Lecter) *"It's not very smart to piss off a guy who thinks about killing people for a living." (to Freddie) *"Are you trying to alienate me from Jack Crawford?" (to Lecter) *"Are you experiencing difficulty with aggressive feelings?" (Lecter to Will) *"I see The Ripper, but I don't feel The Ripper." (to Jack) *"You know what looking at this does." (to Jack) *"What do you see behind closed eyes?"'' (Lecter)'' *''"There was no animal in the chimney. It was all in my head." (to Lecter)'' *''"It's not any easier Jack. Shake it off. Keep on looking." *"I feel unstable." ''(to Lecter) *"I can make myself look, but the thinking is shutting down." (to Jack) *"I'm sleep walking, experiencing hallucinations. Maybe I should get a brain scan." (to Lecter) *"When faced with this killer achievements, your mind needed to escape. And you lost time." (Lecter) *"You have an empathy disorder. What you feel is overwhelming you." (Lecter) *"I wasn't feeling like myself." (to Jack) *"You empathize completely with the killers, Jack has your mind wrapped around that you lose yourself to them. What if you lose time and hurt yourself, or someone else? I don't want you to wake up and see a totem of your own making." (Lecter) *"You're grieving, Will. Not for the life you have taken, but for the life that was taken from you." (Lecter) *"Do you feel alive, Will?" (Lecter) *"I feel like I'm fading." (to Lecter) *"7:16 pm. I'm in Baltimore, Maryland. My name is Will Graham." *"I know what kind of crazy I am. But, this isn't that kind of crazy." (to Lecter) *"Will is an innocent." (Lecter to Jack) *"What you do is: you take all of the evidence available at the crime scene,'' you extrapolate, you reconstruct the thinking of a killer. You don't think of yourself as the killer." ''(Jack) *"I don't feel like myself. I feel like I've been gradually becoming different for a while. I just feel like somebody else." (to Lecter) *"I feel crazy." (to Lecter) *"I fear not knowing who I am." (to Lecter) *"I'm having a hard time thinking. I'm losing my mind. I don't know what's real." (to Lecter) *"I know who Will is. Will knows who he is. Our experiences shape us. How is this experience going to shape Will?" (to Jack) *"I've interviewed enough serial killers to know one when I see one. I see it every time I look at Will Graham." (Freddie to Abigail) *"I feel like I am spilling." (To Jack) *"Wind him up and watch him go." (To Lecter) *"I guess you dodged a bullet with me." (To Alana) *"I am who I have always been, the scales have fallen away from my eyes. I can see you now." (To Lecter) *"I know who I am." (To Lecter) *"But it wasn't real, it wasn't real." (to Lecter) *"At night I leave the lights on in my little house and walks across the flat fields. When I look back from a distance the house is like a boat on the sea. It's really the only time I feel safe." (To Lecter) *"She's confused about who I am which I can relate to." (To Jack) *"I'm having a hard time thinking. I'm losing my mind. I don't know what's real." (To Lecter) *"This is my design." (During an ability session) *This is my legacy." (During an ability session) *"Eyes are distracting. You see too much. You don't see enough." (To Lecter) *"I feel like I have dragged you into my world." (To Lecter) *"If you can't beat god, become him?" (to Lecter) *"Ripper would consider that rude." (To Lana) *"Don't lie to me! Don't lie to me!" (To Lecter) *"What's happening to me?" (To Lecter) *"I could use a good scream. I can feel one perched under my chin." (To Alana) *"All I heard was my heart, dim but fast, like footsteps fleeing into silence." (To Lecter) *"I can feel my nerves clicking like roller coaster cogs…pulling up to the inevitable long plunge." (To Lecter) *"I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and I looked right through me, past me, as if I was just a stranger." (To Lecter) *"It feels like I'm talking to his shadow, suspended on dust." (To Abigail) *"I stared at Hobbs, and the space opposite me assumed the shape of a man filled with dark and swarming flies. Then I scattered them." (To Lecter) *"I felt terrified. And then I felt powerful." (About killing Hobbs) Gallery grahammask1.png hannibalgraham.png tvgraham1.png tvgraham2.png tvgraham3.png tvgraham4.png tvgraham5.png tvgraham6.png References Navigational Category:Characters Category:TV Characters Category:Hannibal (TV) Category:Main Characters Category:Hannibal's Proxies Category:Murderers by proxy Category:Characters framed for murder Category:Murderers